Scrubs

Reader Li Szu emailed me recently with a question as to whether masks and scrubs are necessary and what I’d recommend. I have included an excerpt of her email here:-

I was wondering if you could recommend an extra care/ treatment ie. scrub and masks – how often do you need to do this on top of the regular daily washes?

I dropped Li Szu a line but I thought this was an interesting question that could benefit most of us and of which I could use some of your thoughts too.

Essentially, what I told Li Szu was that I did not think that scrubs and masks were strictly “necessary”. It is nice for our skins once a week and it can help problematic skin e.g. oily skin, dry skin but it isn’t “necessary” if you have normal skin. Do you have thoughts on this?

That said, I enjoy doing scrubs and masks so I do them once a week or when I remember. Usually, I do my masks after a scrub because I feel it works better on exfoliated skin. Some masks and scrubs I like and use often are listed below.

Skincare is always a tricky thing to get as gifts. Well, unless you already know what your friends are using and what their concerns are and what they are allergic to! Here are my picks for the best of skincare in 2009 – available in department stores and pharmacies.

For a touch of luxury, I’d get Elemis – the Marine Recovery cream which is crazy awesome but it is only found at selected spas for now – notably at Mandara Spas in and around Kuala Lumpur (I know of Renaissance Hotel and Sheraton Imperial Hotel).

Not quite luxury but still in the expensive range of skincare is Lancome Primordiale Nuit which is an amazing night cream I like too and have for years.

Kiehl’s has upgraded their regular whitening range to the Dermatologist Solutions range i.e. more exclusive dermatologist tested range. I have 3 items from this line but I have to tell you about the Ultimate White Surface Brightening Exfoliator because I seriously love it and can’t stop raving about it!

For all its wordiness, the Ultimate White Surface Brightening Exfoliator is a facial scrub. It comes in a 150ml tube and I really like it because it makes my skin feel baby butt smooth.

The brightening exfoliator is part of the Ultimate White range which is essentially a whitening/brightening skincare range. This is to be used after cleansing and before toner. I use mine in the shower after taking off my makeup for the day.

The amount I use is very very little – about 0.7cm. The first time I used it, I squeezed out about 1cm of the cream and I found that it lathers up something plenty which although nice ( I love the air cushion effect) I felt was a bit of a waste and takes a while to wash off.Continue Reading